For many mixed and arable farms, Massey Ferguson nailed the sweet spot between power and size with its 200hp 7718.

This was the middle model – and biggest small-framer – in the nine-strong 7700 range that took over from the 7600s in 2015, before being superseded by the largely identical ‘S’ derivatives in 2018.

See also: Driver’s view: Massey Ferguson 5S.135 Dyna-4 tractor

It came with Sisu’s near-bombproof 6.6-litre, six-cylinder engine and the choice of Massey’s time-proven four-range, six-speed Dyna-6 or slicker Dyna-VT stepless transmission.

These were key attractions for Lincolnshire-based Tom and Richard Lamb, who bought their 7718 Dyna-6 in 2016.

Nine years later and it’s still soldiering on, though its workload has tailed off following the arrival of a series of bigger 8S tractors to take over frontline duties at their 200ha Home Farm.

This has kept the 7718’s hour count at a modest 3,500, but it still does most of the bale carting, as well as tedding, raking and mowing the grassland that feeds its 100 store cattle.

Why a Massey 7718?

We’re Massey diehards – we like the tractors, they’re usually more affordable than John Deeres, and we get great service from Chandlers.

Prior to this one, we had been religiously changing them every three years. But the 7718 has hung around far longer because we’ve sacrificed buying replacements to improve the farm infrastructure.

Building a house, concreting the yard and putting in 4,800t of grain storage wasn’t cheap.

It came in 2016 to replace a 7618, which itself took over from a 6480. This tractor is the best of that bunch.

Aside from it being a Massey, the main appeals were that it was sensible money – £70,000 looks seriously cheap now – and Agco’s warranty, which, in my opinion, is far superior to the rest.

They never palm us off when we call up with an issue and, even when we had a set of brake discs fail on the 6480 after 200 hours, they stepped in and supported us.

The tractor’s workload has reduced in recent years, partly due to a change off approach on the arable land, which we used to plough and power harrow combi drill, and because we now have an 8S.305 for crop establishment.

What extras did you opt for?

We went for the cheaper “efficient” spec but added quite a few extras, mainly to make it more comfortable to drive.

The first option we always tick is for a nicer seat. It cost about a grand but is invariably the best money spent – it’s wider than the standard version, is heated, and has far more adjustment.

For similar reasons, we went for front axle and cab suspension.

Given it does a fair bit of bale carting, we also had heated mirrors with electric adjustment and a Visio roof window.

The latter is a game changer for loading straw, and it slides backwards to open right up, meaning you can get a blast of fresh air straight to the face on a hot summer’s day. It’s awesome.

As for in-cab spec, we opted for one manual spool lever – just in case the two electric ones fail – and the Multipad joystick instead of Massey’s standard T-bar transmission shifter.

There’s also an extra joystick for the loader.

In fact, the only things we really went without were a Datatronic screen and GPS. We didn’t think we needed them at the time.

We already had the front loader – it’s been on a couple of our previous tractors – but we added quick-release couplings.

In hindsight, we should have fitted wheel weights too; you certainly know when you’ve got five Quadrants on the front.

A front linkage was a must, as we used to carry a front weight with integrated press wheels when drilling.

It doesn’t see much action these days, though it’s handy on the rare occasions the council calls up with a snow ploughing job.

And, as it was our main ploughing tractor, we upgraded the rear linkage from 8.1t to 9.6t capacity and fitted narrow Michelin tyres.

After about 150 hours, a bulge appeared in the sidewall of one of the 520/85 R38 rears.

Michelin claimed it was pierced by a piece of wire, which seemed hard to believe, and they refused to support us.

That meant we had to cough up to replace the pair – something we’re still irked by.

So, when it came to swapping the front ones (420/85 R28s), which wear out far quicker because of the loader work, we went to BKTs.

They were half the price and have proved surprisingly good, so we’ll stick with them going forwards.

How has it performed?

It’s been seriously reliable. I always thought the Perkins engine was good, but the Sisu seems even better. It’s pretty easy on fuel and, in particular, AdBlue. By comparison, the 8S slurps the stuff.

The Dyna-6 transmission is just as solid. We knew what we were getting, as it was proven in the 7600s and 6480s.

It’s a shame that Massey didn’t play it safe and stick with it for the 8S tractors, rather than bolting on another electronically controlled gear to make the Dyna-7.

That caused them no end of headaches – we blew one on an 8S.245 after just 500 hours.

Having said all that, we might be tempted by a Dyna-VT next time, having experienced it in the 8S.305.

Either way, we’d definitely go to 50kph. At the time, dad insisted on having a 40kph box as he reckoned I drove too fast and burned the brakes out on the 6480.

The only problems we’ve had in nine years have been caused by a poxy 3in-long bypass wire between two of the rear hydraulic valves.

It plays up every couple of months, causing the loader to stop working, but a quick flick of the cable gets it going again.

It’s a weird one – we’ve tried replacing it and cleaning the contacts, to no avail. It did exactly the same thing two months later.

What could be improved?

My biggest bugbear is the loader. The Euro 8 brackets might be ideal for smaller tractors but they’re not strong enough for this one. I’ve dug into a heap of soil and splayed the bucket hooks more than once.

It would be much better if stronger headstocks were an option. As it is, I’ve built a JCB Q-Fit bracket so I can at least can pick up our Loadall attachments.

The loader can also be a right faff to get off without a bucket or grab on to weigh it down, so we tend to leave it on the tractor as a front weight, and the little stabilising legs are too weedy for the job.

As for the tractor, the one thing I’d like to see improved is the cab suspension. The puny motorbike-style springs don’t soak up the bumps very effectively, particularly compared to the big air bags of a dump truck.

And we’ve had trouble with the steel arms that carry the mid-height lights on the cab. They tend to crack around the welds – we’ve replaced them once and it looks like we’ll soon have to fix them again.

Other than that, the issues are pretty minor: the exhaust cowling rattles periodically, the water drips into the cab when the back window is open on a wet day, and the passenger seat is falling to bits.

How long are you going to keep it?

We’ve left it so long to change that a replacement is all but unaffordable.

But it’s simple and reliable and, for the amount of work it does, we can’t justify spending six figures on a 7S.210, which would probably be my first choice.

As it is, it’s probably still worth the best part of £50,000, so it’s only cost us £5.70 an hour in depreciation, and we’d rather spend the money on concrete and steel to improve the farm.